There can be only one #6 for me. No other player even comes close to Stephen Patrick Garvey, the first baseman for the Dodgers from 1969-1982. He finished his career with the Padres from 1983-1987 finishing a 19 year career in the Majors. When he was done, he had won the World Series in 1981, made the All Star team 10 times, won 4 Gold Gloves, was the NL MVP in 1974, won the All Star MVP twice, and the NLCS MVP twice. He finished with a .294 batting average, had 2599 hits, 272 HR’s, and 1308 RBI. He still holds the NL record for consecutive games played at 1207. Oddly enough, the Padres retired his number, but not the Dodgers.
His nickname during his career was “Mr. Clean.” Tommy Lasorda once said that "If he ever came to date my daughter, I'd lock the door and not let him out." That image took a hit after his career was over because of extra-marital affairs. He is a member of the Irish American Hall of Fame and the Michigan State University Athletics Hall of Fame. Steve Garvey Junior High School, in Lindsay, California, is named for him.
If you haven’t heard or have seen it on facebook, I just gave the commencement speech at our graduation here at NPHS last Sunday. I started with my three greatest accomplishments at NPHS: 1) Burning the school down in 1984 (fire chief said it started in my room Exhaust fan) 2) Making the bumper sticker that said “My two favorite teams are the Pilgrims and whoever is playing Fruitland” (our hated rival) and 3) Winning State Baseball in 1994. At the point I had a surprise panned for the seniors. The rest of the speech was a Top Ten list of the things I have learned in Life Love and Teaching. Back to the surprise. We wear graduation robes on top of our clothes. Underneath everything I had my old baseball uniform on compete with stirrups. I was going to strip it all off when I talked about my team, but I forgot. To this day I cannot believe that cuz I had that planned all year. When I went to sit down, Penny gave me a look with her arms out. I instantly realized I hadn’t stripped down. I yelled out at the top of my lungs, “OH MY GOD!! WAAIITTTT!!!! I ran back up, took my robe off revealing an outfit of Fruitland colors, which I hate. (orange and black). I took off my tie and flung it away. Then I tore my shirt off and the buttons went flying. When I reached for my pants, there was a collective groan from 1500 people. The pants came off revealing my full uni, and then I raised my arms. At that point, the entire gym gave me a standing ovation. I’d like to share a picture of the moment with you. Check out the attached picture! I have one more I’ll send along when I get it on this computer. I just thank God for Penny. Without her, I would have forgot and the whole thing would have been ruined. As she always says: LOVE LOVE!
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